


The Distance Between Us Is Half Of This City (or My Big, Fake, Inverted, Wedding)

by word_processing



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Arguments, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Fake Wedding, M/M, Miscommunication, Mission Fic, Or Is It?, Sharing a Bed, The Protagonist needs to deal with his feelings, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, a single POV? i don't even know her, also, but Neil could be a little more empathic, communication is key folks, there's only one bed in the honeymoon suit friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29058990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/word_processing/pseuds/word_processing
Summary: Whoever pitched this idea was either getting fired or a raise. The whole idea would have been fine, maybe even entertaining, except that the Boss and Neil were having a fight. It was making work rather unbearable at the London HQ.“You want us to do what?” Neil scoffed."The plan is to hire the hotel to do the wedding. It's the simplest way."Tenet needs to intercept an exchange of inverted weapons that is taking place in a DC hotel. The team decided to fake a wedding to infiltrate the hotel with Neil and the Protagonist as the grooms. The only problem is the usually happy couple is in the middle of a massive fight.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Don't Keep Driving by The Paper Kites.
> 
> The rating might change.

Whoever pitched this idea was either getting fired or a raise. If Ives hadn't known better, it would have thought it was Neil's plan, to begin with. The whole idea would have been fine, maybe even entertaining, except that the Boss and Neil were having a fight. Generally, that would mean everyone was a little tense in the office, and Ives and Wheeler had to do a bit more to keep the office running, but they always made up in the end. This time it had been a week, and the Boss had taken to sleeping on the couch in his office while Neil looked like he wasn't sleeping at all. It was making work rather unbearable at the London HQ.

"You want us to do what?" Neil scoffed, pacing the conference room, it's tinted, bulletproof windows making the London skyline look warped.

"We need to get in the hotel with a large team. The plan is to hire the hotel to do the wedding. We'll be able to bring people in as guests and vendors. It's the simplest way. No one will look twice at you two poking around, taking pictures, and bringing people in." Wheeler said, pointing at the large display screen at the head of the table.

Neil rolled his eyes, but his mind was already working, coming up with what they would need for a cover. It was a good plan. "Why us?" He asked as if it wasn't obvious. Most days, they were nauseatingly in, love and no one would doubt their cover. It was hardly a cover.

Ives opened his mouth because someone had to, and he was the least likely to end up dead. "Well, you two are already together. So, you know, no acting required."

Neil glared, at him and Ives shut his mouth.

The Boss sat quietly; fingers laced over his stomach while he watched all this.

"And we know that the meeting is going down at this hotel on this day? We have proof? Do we have proof of the inverted weapons?" He asked, making everyone turn to him.

"Yes," Wheeler pulling up the pictures their agent at taken at the meeting. "We have evidence of conventional and inverted missions. Once we remove the inverted weapons, we can turn the rest over to the FBI. And we'll be able to trace their origins. We're still unsure about the location of this latest turnstile.

He nodded and stood. "Good. We'll invert and start making our way back today. Neil and I are on infiltration. Ives and Wheeler, you're in charge of the ops teams that get the weapons. You know what to do." The Boss swept out of the room then, and Neil looked after him, looking shocked and, if you looked hard enough a little hurt.

"Seriously? Fine. I'm going to need at least an extra week of prep time to establish covers. We're going to need to send information back to have the hotel books and some preliminary arrangements made. No self-respecting five-star DC hotel is going to do a wedding at a few weeks' notice." He stalked out of the room then, already typing out instructions on his phone that they would have to send back to the past so an agent there could make the arrangements.

<><><>

Twelve hours later, they were sitting in a warehouse outside Baltimore, waiting out the three weeks while inverted. Neil had left the training area for the small sectioned off sleeping quarters; he didn't think he'd get a lot of action with a gun this go around, and he tired of seeing David talking to Ives and the other agents like nothing was going on. Or perhaps it was because nothing was going on.

He hunched over his laptop, working on a socially acceptable social media presence and a wedding website that would be unsearchable but that they would be able to show the wedding planner at the hotel. And if anyone went snooping, they would find enough to put their suspicions to rest.

Neil was engrossed in his work so much that he didn't notice David entering and watching him for a moment.

"You shouldn't be that close to the screen. You'll hurt your eyes." David said, warm and soft. It felt like coming home from a long day and crawling into bed with your favorite blanket, but still, Neil tensed and turned around, looking at David.

"I'm trying to finish these covers. Given our confidence everyone is in us, we probably shouldn't slip up."

"We're not going to slip up. We're basically playing ourselves. It'll be nice for a change." He paused, and then he came to sit next to Neil on the bed. It was the only room with a queen; the rest were twin bunks. It was their bed. David had built this operation in a way that meant they could always be together, and yet… Neil always felt one step behind, an arm's length from David. It hurt. "Can I see what you've come up with?"

Neil bit his lip and pushed the laptop over into his lap. "You're a cultural attaché that was stationed in London where you met me, a curator at the British Museum. You were called back to DC six months ago, and I came with you after an airport marriage proposal."

"Dramatic," David muttered fondly.

"Romantic. And cliché enough that no one would ever make it up." Neil retorted, but he couldn't help but smile.

"We had a flat in Capitol Hill but are renovating a townhome in Adams Morgan and would like a rather quick but large wedding at the Mayflower in Downtown DC. I'm landed gentry, and you've done quite well for yourself for someone who is in public service, so money is no object." Neil explained, pulling up the wedding website. It was simple and clean, pinstripe and navy blue. It suited them very well. "We're going for simple, masculine elegance."

"Your talents continue to amaze me," David said softly, looking at Neil and not the laptop. They locked eyes for a moment, and it was all Neil could do to close the laptop and place it safely on the floor before David grabbed his face and kissed him.

It had been over a week since Neil had been kissed, and this felt like coming up for air. He gasped and leaned into David's mouth, fingers tangling in his hair. It took no prompting for Neil to swing one leg over David's thighs and settle into his lap. He slid one hand to grab Neil's ass and pull him closer, causing the taller man to moan.

The kiss was hard and frenzied, a week's worth of tension, hurt, anger, and space wrapped up in a clash of tongues and groping hands. David got his hands under Neil's thighs and flipped them over, Neil on his back while David worked to get their clothes off. He knew that Neil was upset with him, that they had had a massive fight that didn't seem to have a cause at this point, but he hated the idea of being apart from Neil for even a moment. They didn't have forever. He knew that better than anyone. Literally.

"I'm so fucked off with you right now, I almost can't believe I let you kiss me," Neil muttered, catching his breath and pressing into David's touch. He missed this man. Missed his touch. Missed his voice. Missed the safety he felt in his solid presence. He was not doing anything to help with the clothes. David could stand to do a little work for once.

"Well, I'll accept your apology anytime, baby," David said with a laugh, not really thinking about it. The fight seemed so stupid now, the anger so distant and silly, their relationship so solid that it couldn't possibly matter anymore.

David was wrong.

"My apology? What the fuck!" Neil shoved at David and got off the bed, fumbling to right his clothes in his fuming rage. "I'm not apologizing for anything. I'm not the one keeping people at arm's length and being an arse."

"Neil," David started, skipping contrite and going straight to frustrating, "you don't understand-"

"You're right, I don't. Because you won't bloody tell me anything. I get that this mission of ours requires secrecy. I don't need to know every play, and I don't need to know how it all ends, but I do need to know if we're doing this."

"This?"

"Us. Are you going to let me in? Because if the answer is no, I need to know so I can learn to unlove you." Neil didn't sound angry anymore, just tired. "We've known each other for five years, David. If you don't trust me by now, there isn't much of a chance, is there?"

"Neil-"David started again, but the younger held up his hand.

"I'm going to go get some sleep and finish this. There's another meeting tomorrow to check out the hotel's layout and start working on the wedding plans. I'll see you there." Neil picked up the laptop and his backpack. The little keychain wasn't there yet. David often wondered where it had come from. Neil didn't wait for a response, just left the room, shoulders hunched.

" _Fuck_ ," the Protagonist muttered. He was doing a lousy job of being the protagonist in his own romance, wasn't he?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly David being in love with Neil so there's that. The Mayflower is a real hotel in DC so you can check them out if you want, see all the pretty rooms and pictures. 
> 
> This fic now also has a Pinterest for some reason which you can find here: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kathykane33/protagneil-fic/
> 
> And a sort of mess playlist which I'm always listening to: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5meLWF0socs7wlQzyQWlE9?si=nuu4wSZSRWSS8AeLpjppkA
> 
> The next chapter will be cute DC tourist and then maybe I'll write some real plot.

They spent to next three and a half weeks planning a wedding that was meant purely as a distraction for a larger operation. Neil would be lying if he said it didn’t sting a little that his wedding was being used a decoy and that he was going to have to fake marry David. Especially after that ultimatum, he’d delivered. Neil wasn’t actually sure he wanted to get married, when he was younger it had always felt like a thing other people did, not at all for him. When he joined MI6 it simply seemed impractical and anyway, nothing was going to be as cool as his job. Nothing was as cool as his job at Tenet but he thought that if he did want to get married, it would be to David.

Perhaps that was why he was being so picky about the wedding details.

“This is fake, Neil. We shouldn’t be so focused on these details.” David argued, pushing his chair away from the table after Neil had spent twenty minutes weighing the pros and cons of chrome verse silver chairs at the ceremony.

Neil glared, “It does matter. We’re a very wealthy queer couple arriving in a new city and needing to be introduced into the new social scene. While we’re not going to make a splash in any papers, we need to look like we want to. We need to play the part. And if you would help me, we could get through this and go over the hotel layout again.”

David watched him for a moment, going from cross to fond to resigned. “Silver.”

“Very good,” Neil said, nodding approvingly and typing up a few notes before he sent them off to have relied back to an agent in the past who was acting as their wedding planner with the hotel. An impressive amount of work was going into this whole thing. This was just the wedding front, Wheeler and Ives had a whole other operation going behind the scenes to intercept the inverted weapons and then tip off the FBI to the arms dealers.

Neil pushed all the wedding details aside and Wheeler rolled out the schematics for the hotel. He took out a pencil and started marking on the paper. David couldn’t stop looking at his long, elegant fingers. “The meeting is happening here in the Senate Room on the lobby floor. We’ll be across the hall for a ceremony in the Chinese Ballroom which will open into the Grand Ballroom for the reception. We have people lined up to be the guests.”

Wheeler nodded, “The weapons are being kept in a guest room somewhere on the 7th floor. We’re not entirely sure. You two will be going to the hotel a week before the wedding, as your lease is up on your old apartment and work isn’t finished on your new one. We know that at least one of the sellers arrived five days before the meeting for some other business. You’ll need to find his room.”

David nodded, leaning back in his chair and watching the two explain the plan. He didn’t take a very active role in planning missions anymore. He didn’t need to. His people were good enough at this point that he trusted them and as long as it didn’t directly impact the future’s ability to complete the Sator mission, there wasn’t a lot to worry about.

“And you’ll grab the weapons during the wedding?” He confirmed.

“Yes, sir. We’ll have two teams, one for the B&E and one for the extraction. All the parties will be in the meeting and the room will be left unattended. If we run into any problems, the wedding will be enough of a commotion that we’ll have time to get out without being seen.”

“It’s a lot of fuss for a distraction that might not be needed.”

Neil rolled his eyes. David was being cheeky just for the hell of it and Lord help him, Neil found it charming.

Ives ran them through a few of the finer points and then they broke for the evening.

“The car is picking us up at ten-hundred tomorrow morning. I’ll see you at oh-eight-hundred to go through the turnstile. Our bags and documents will be on the other side waiting for us.” Neil said, taking a few steps away from the table.

David pushed his chair in, paused, and then pushed Neil’s chair in as well with the air of a man who was used to do it often and couldn’t help but find it cute. “I’ll see you at oh-eight-hundred,” he confirmed and Neil started to walk away. “Neil,” David called, thinking that he should check-in, let him know that he had been thinking about what the man had said.

Neil turned to look at him, tucking his hair behind his ear and the image hit David like an inverted punch to the chest, pulling the wind from him. Suddenly, they weren’t in an inverted shipping container, traveling backward in time. They were in the future, standing on the radioactive dirt of an abandoned Russian city. David had to blink, bringing himself back to the present.

“Yeah?”

“Just, um…” Fuck, he was so beautiful. “Maybe we can have dinner tomorrow. At the hotel. I mean, together.”

“Oh. Um, yeah.” Neil smiled slowly; it was small but it was like the sun coming out. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

<><><>

They’d gone through the turnstile together, their eyes catching in the proving window. Neil thought he saw David smile. They dressed in silence. Neil in relaxed, soft-looking light trousers that were cuffed at the bottom and a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the first few buttons were undone. He looked young and fashionable, posh with an artsy flair. David had one tailored pair of trousers and navy polo which seemed to be painted on his biceps. Neil felt like he might be going through the stages of grief over it.

David looked up at him after tying his shoes. Neil looked so beautiful, easy in their clothes as he was in his own. The man was the perfect agent, a chameleon, slipping from one skin to another. He struggled with the clasp of his watch, too busy watching Neil bend down to slip into his Doc Marten brown oxfords. Was it possible even the man’s ankles were beautiful?

“Here, let me,” Neil didn’t wait for an answer, turning David’s wrist over and doing the clasped expectedly. The tips of his fingers were chilly against David’s wrist and his pulse quickened. Neil looked up. His eyes all heat as he made a point adjust exactly how the sleeves laid on David’s arms. David knew that look it didn’t mean that Neil forgave him for whatever he was angry about but it did mean that he was still very much interested in David. Which he took as a good thing. 

There was a plastic basket of personal artifacts for their cover. Neil reached into it and pulled out a smartphone, sliding in the left front pocket of David’s trousers. Slow and deliberate and David sucked in a breath. “That’s your phone. And this is your wallet.” He did the same with the wallet in the other pocket and David had to bite back a curse. Neil was smirking and his tone was even but his eyes never left David’s.

“Anything else I need?” He asked eyebrow raised not sure what he wanted the answer to be.

“No. You don’t start your new job at Lockheed until after the honeymoon so you don’t have a work badge.”

“Lockheed? Aren’t I a cultural attaché? What am I doing at Lockheed?” His interest was piqued so he couldn’t even mourn the loss of Neil’s body against him when he moved away to pick up his own things.

“I thought it might be useful to give you that cover in case there’s a change of plans and someone from the meeting makes contact,” Neil said simply like it was obvious.

“You think they might make us? Think I’m part of the deal?”

Neil shrugged, “I don’t know. I just wanted the option.”

He was back to be distant and David didn’t even care because this man was so brilliant and amazing and beautiful and David _loved_ him.

“Car’s here,” Neil said and looked over his shoulder at David briefly before picking up the leather weekender with his non-wedding-related clothes. David had to remember how to breathe, almost getting dragged back to Russia.

“Yeah,” he said, mouth feeling dry. How was he going to make Neil understand?

They got into the car silently and Neil spent the trip looking out the window. Just outside the Beltway, they drove through a Starbucks because Neil asked, all big eyes and long eyelashes.

“I’ve never been to DC actually,” Neil admitted, watching the baristas work inside the store for the drive-thru window.

“Really?”

“MI6 doesn’t exactly do a lot of operations in the States.”

“Hm. I was stationed at Andrews for a while. And I did some training at Quantico. It’s a great city.”

“I’ve heard. The museums alone.” Neil looked so happy just thinking about the museums.

David was pretty much willing to buy all the Smithsonian’s museums at this point to see Neil look happy like that again.

“We have time tomorrow. We could go check some out. I mean, your cover is museum curator, right?”

The years and the missions came off of Neil’s face and he looked like who he was. A man in his twenties, exploring a new place, hopefully with the person he loved. David was so gone on this man.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Neil’s voice was quieter though like he’d remembered they were fighting. This

The driver handed them their drinks and before he had a chance to think, David said, “Take the Beltway around and enter the city from Virginia so we can see downtown and all the monuments. Please.”

<><><>

The Mayflower Hotel was a beautiful art deco hotel in downtown Washington, DC on Connecticut Avenue. A bellman opened the door and David got out first, watching Neil get out and slip into character effortlessly. Neil was always graceful but it was more predatory, like a jungle cat. This character that Neil had come up with was easy and posh, surveying the hotel like it was his kingdom and swaying his hips a little when he walked, arm interlocked with David’s.

“Checking in for Mr. Benjamin Hanover and Mr. Oliver Stanley,” David’s voice was easy and he smiled at the woman behind the corner.

“Oh, for the wedding! We’ve been working on that for weeks. I’m so exciting. It’s going to be beautiful.” She said, making the keys and marking some of on the little sleeve. “You’re in the Dignitary Suite and have access to the club level. Here are your keys. Your bags have already been brought up. Please let us know if you need anything.”

Neil nodded, “Thanks, love.” He didn’t hesitate a moment longer though and pulled David away from the desk and towards the bank of elevators.

The suite was more like an apartment and David didn’t know what they were going to do with space. Especially when they both stood in the single bedroom, looking at the king-sized bed.

“Right. No chance we can argue that were abstaining until marriage and need another room?” Neil tried and it sounded like he wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not.

“Neil,” David said flatly.

“What? Do you expect me to be pleased about this?”

“I expect you not to let it affect the mission.”

“Me affect the mission? You’re the one who refuses to apologize! I’m ready for this to be over whenever you want.”

“What am I even apologizing for?”

“If you don’t know by now, I’m not going to bother telling you.”

Neil walked away, getting his laptop and headphones out of his bag and disappearing into work. David grit his teeth.

<><><>

They worked in silence for the rest of the day. Neil on the current mission, David on the upcoming ones. Some Neil wasn’t even privy to yet. That was the trouble. David had to live in the past, present, and future. He had to have all this in his head and he couldn’t share it all with Neil. He was going to send Neil off to die one day. How could he even begin to forgive himself for that?

When Neil started to roll his shoulders and fidget about 7:30, he figured it was time to eat. David stood and closed the files he was looking at. “Come on,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Come on what?” Neil took out his headphone, running a hand through his hair and fluffing it up even more.

“To dinner. Like I said yesterday.” He didn’t give any room for argument.

“Yeah, alright.” Neil got up but didn’t take David’s hand in any way.

They went to the hotel’s restaurant that was named for J. Edgar Hoover which David supposed was _a choice_ and about which Neil made a few snide comments that made David snort into his beer.

They talked about nothing at all. Plans about which museums to go see mostly because David insisted that “all of them” wasn’t really an option.

They back to their room after dinner and stroll around the hotel under the guise and seeing where their wedding would. Neil was tired, David knew all the signs. He pulled at his hair more and rubbed his eyes. Inversion would do that to you.

They were back in the bedroom and Neil looked like he was about to offer to sleep on the couch when David shook his head. “Neil, we’re both adults. Just get in the bed.”

Neil looked like he was about to pout and murmured something that sounded like “bossy”.

Now that they were both in pajamas and laying in bed, the room dark and then few inches between them both too little and too much, David felt foolish.

“You’re right. I’ve been keeping things from you. Keeping you at arm’s length.”

“Are you ready to talk about it?” Neil asked, hesitant. He was laying on his back which David knew was his least favorite.

“I… I can’t… There are things you can’t know.” David knew that was true and yet it felt like a lie when it felt his lips.

Neil scoffed, “Even me? After all this time?” He turned on his side, facing away from David, and pressed his face into his pillow, trying to get as close as he could to laying on his stomach.

“Baby…” David tried, putting a hand on Neil’s shoulder.

“Don’t _baby_ me, David.” But he didn’t shrug off David’s hand so there was that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, come talk to me on Twitter if you so please @theinternetbed


End file.
